Mechanical stoker



SHEET 1.

2 SHEETS-u J. M. PORTER.

MECHANICAL STOKER. `man DCT. 2a. 1920.

Jan. 16, 1923.

Jan. .16, 1923.`

y J. M. PORTER. MECHANICAL STOKER.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

FILED OCT. 28, 1920.

Patented Jan. 16, 1923.

UNITED STATES JAMES M. PORTER, or SPRINGDALE, is'nnnsrnVANIA.l

MECHANICAL sToKEn.

Application 1ed-October-28, 1920.. lSerial No. 420,236.

To all whom t may concern:`

, Be itknown that I, JAMES M. Formia, a citizen of the United States, and resident and State of Pennsylvania, havey invented a new and useful Improvement in Mechanical Stokers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact def scription thereof. -i

My invention relates to`-stokers orliring boilers, stills or other steam generatingapparatus and it has for its object to provide a mechanical Stoker of improved construction which shall .be economical in opT eration and which shall notv require the .at-v tention of a skilled operatorl` In addition, my invention aims to providea stoker which maybe constructed as aselffcontained unit which can be readily removed-from oney fur nace and applied-to another. This makes it possible to use my improved Stoker' with any one of a battery of furnaces, thus producing a considerable saving of equipment.

In4 the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1y is a side elevational view ,showingan automatic mechanical Stoker constructedv in -acf cordance with my invention, Fig. 2j`isf'av vlongitudinal sectional view takencentrallf through the machine on the line, 2 2, Fig.

3; Fig.l 3 is a transverse sectional, view taken approximately on the line 3`-3, Fig. 2; and Fig. 4 is a detail view showing the; grate bar construction.

In the drawings the numeral 2 designates side plates which carry the powermechanism ot the machine and are. supported ,on channel bars. 3 carried by wheels 4 that are vadapted to travel on suitable tracks: T. The channel bars' 3 also support` a :tramer work composed ot' rear uprights 5, inclined angle irons 6 and diagonal bracesy 7.

A shaft 8 is journaledin suitable bear-4 ings in the side plates 6 and carries a sprocket wheel 9 around which passes'aV chain 10 that also passes around'a smaller sprocket wheel 11 secured to a shaft` 12 als journaled between thevside plates 2. l

' ,Two sets of eccentrics 13 and14 are-carried by the shaft 8, lthe eccentrics 13 being displaced fromy the eccentrics 1'41 byv about 180 soy that when the eccentrics 14 lare at, the top or their travel, as shownl in Fig. 2, the yeccentrics 13`are at the bottom of their travel. rIhe eccentrics 13 and 14 support the upper ends of .two sets of inclined grate bars 15 and 16, the lower ends of which rest on a horizontal bar -17 mounted in bear- 'l ings l8`that are carried-by vinclined bars of Springdale, in the county of Alleghenys 19 that extend Yout from' the side plates2.

The shaftS-carriesfa worm gear wheel ,v 2() `which mesheswith a` worm 21 carried by a powerv'shaft 22, the outer endofwhich carries a bevel gear wheel 23'for connectpower, noty shown. "Ihe shaft 22 is mounted in bearings 24and y25 and-carries 'near its wheel 27 that is vsecured to ,'av'shaft 28 car'ryL l ing-the apparatusto any suitable source-of ingt'wofse'ts of ecoentrics129 and 301 which are similar tothe eccentrics y13jand 14 but A`have/ai somewhat longer throw,in o-rder to givethe lower grate' alongerfmovement than the-upper grate. lThe eccentrics 29 and 30 carry two sets of-fgrate bars 131 and 32, the lower ends ot which rest upon a bar 33 that is mountedin bearings'34 carriedk by theside bars 6 rof the-frame.

carried-by 'horizontaly bars 37, and vcarries two sprocket wheels 38, whilethe shaft-12 at the front ofthe machine'carries twosimilar sprocket wheels 39, and twoA 'chainsy 40 exs tend around the sprocket wheels 38 and 39 I Y the bars 41 actin@ `as Scrapers-to :draw the b ashes to the frontof the'machine. A- h'opper 43 is;c.arrie d; bythe sidefplates 2- abov'e lthe upperends of' the grate :bars 15 and 16 and has a sliding .o'ate 44 for regulating the amount' of coalideliveredi to the grate bar-s, this gate 44 being* adjustable ing withpinions '46 carriedby a shaft whichis 'providedwith aV suitable handle 48 outside, ofthe hopper 43.

Each of the grate barsfconsistsas shown l in Fig.v 4, o'fa-:T-'bar having its upper suryfaceprovided with'serrationsvv 49,'a11d :pro- Y videdz near its upper endfwith a bearing \50- which is' circularly curved :to receive its vv,o perating eccentric. p f

In operation, the Stoker is rolled on the tracks T into a furnace; chamber, one wall of which 4is indicated at 5l, Figs' .'1and 2.

Fuel is placed in thezhopper743 and isallowed to drop on the upper grate bars yand passunder the gate 44, the, amount ofuel so delivered being regulated by raisingnor lowering the gate by means of the handle 4S. Power is applied to the shaft 22 through the bevel gear Q8 or other desired power connections, and the shafts 8 and 2S are thus set in motion, carrying` with them the eccentrics 13 and 14 and the eccentrics E29 and 30. The rotation o-f the eccentrics causes the grate bars to move lengthwise in opposite Sets, the bars 15 moving forward while the bars 16 are moving backward and vice versa. Also, thel bars 31 move forward while the bars 32 are moving backward and vice versa, and the upper ends of all the bars are given a vertical orbital movement bythe eccentrics. This movement of the bars serves to push the fuel gradually down and over the full lengthof the grate bars, the movement of the bars being so regulated that the fuel is entirely consumed before it reaches the lower ends of the bars. The forward movement of the fuel may be, for example, from two inches to six inches perv minute. The ashes drop off the lower ends of the bars 29 and 30 upon the plate 4Q and are carried to the front of the machine bylmeans of the Scrapers 41;? This operation continues as long as coal is supplied to the ,hopper 43, no attention being required after the gate 44 is once adjusted to admit the proper amount-of coal.

The grates may be leither inclined as shown in the accompanying vdrawing or may be level if desired, and the entire device may be made of anyconvenient size and proportions to adapt it for use in any type of steam generator or in accordance with the wishes of the'user. The bars composing the grates are separated from each other by a suitable interval to allow for proper draft, this interval or offset being about one thirtysecond of an inch.

The lower setv of grate bars may be run at higher speed than the upper set in order to advance the partly consumed coalmore rapidly than the coal entering the stoker from the hopper 43.

It will be observed that the entire stoker mechanism `is a self contained unit and that, when the fire is to be drawn or the stoker moved for any purpose, it is only necessary to roll the Stoker out from beneath the furnace which requires'but little time and no disconnection of parts. My improved stoker may therefore be 'used where there are 'a' number of furnaces, only a few of which are required to be used at one time, the Stokers being readily transferred from one furnace to the other. here a battery of Stokers is employed there must also be Several auxiliary furnaces in order to take the place of the regular furnaces which may be shut down `for repairs or for other reasons. When my improved stoker is used with such equipment, the auxiliary furnaces need not tbe equipped with stokers but the stckcrs can be moved from one furnace to the other circumstances may'require.

A further advantage of my Stoker is that the fire can be killed in a few minutes, it beingonly necessary to draw the stoker from the furnace in order to stop the operation of the furnace, after which the fire `maybe extinguished or the Stoker transferred to another furnace as may be desired.

While I have herein shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention', it is to be understood that various changes in the form and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from my invention. 'I therefore desire that no limitations be imposed on my invention except such as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim asv my invention:

1. A mechanical stoker comprising a plurality of grates, one grate being adapted to receive partially consumed fuel from another, each of. the said gratas' being com'- posed of a plurality of bars disposed side by side and divided into two set-sof alternate bars, and-means for movng` ther said sets of bars `lengthwise in opposite directions, and for simultaneously imparting 'al vertical orbital movement to one end of each of said bars.

2. A mechanical'stoker comprising a plurality of grates, one grate being adapted to `receive partially consumedfuel from another, each of said grates being-composed of a plurality of bars disposed side by side Fand divided into two sets of alternate bars, a Shaft extending transversely to the said bars beneath one end of each of said grates, eccentrics carried by saidv shafts. and supporting the `said bars, certain of said eccentrics occupying different angular positions, and means for rotating said shafts and for thereby moving said Sets of bars lengthwise, and raising and lowering the front ends of said bars.

3. A mechanical stoker comprising two grates, one grate being adapted to receive partially consumed fuel from another, each of said grates being composed of a plurality of bars disposed side by side and divided into two sets of `alternate bars, and means for moving the said sets of bars in opposite directions comprising eccentrics supporting theI front ends of said bars, the :eccentrics associated with the lower grate having a longer throw than the eccentrics associated with the upper. grate, whereby the lower grate bars are given a longerv movement than the upper grate bars.

4. A mechanical Stoker comprisingv two grates inclined in the same direction .with the upper end of one grate beneath the lower end of the other, so that the lower grate may receive partially consumed fuel from lfl 0 the upper grate, each of said grates being composed of a plurality of bars arranged side by side and divided into tWo sets of alternate bars, and means for moving said sets of bars simultaneously in opposite directions.

5. A mechanical stoker comprising a frame, Wheels for transporting the said frame .on tracks, two parallel shafts journaled in the said frame, a plurality of eccentrics carried by each of the said shafts, the alternate eccentrics extending in opposite directions from the said shafts, a plurality of grates, one grate being' adapted to receive partially consumed fuel from the other, each of said vgrates being composed of grate bars disposed side by side, each of the said bars having one end supported on one of the said eccentrics, and horizontal bars carried by the said frame for supporting the ends of the said grates opposite to the said eccentrics.

6. A mechanical Stoker comprising a site directions from the said shafts, a plu-l rality of grates composed of grate bars disposed side by side, each of the said barsv .having one end supported on one of the said eccentrics, horizontal bars carried by the said frame for supporting the ends of the said grates opposite to the said eccentrics, an ash pan adapted to yreceive ashes from one of the said grates, and an endless scraper carried by the said frame and adapt* ed to draw the ashes to the frontlof the machine. i

In testimony whereof I, the said JAMES M. PORTER, have hereunto set my hand.

JAMES M. PORTER. Witnesses: f

C. G. PORTER, CHAS. HLINGER. 

